Saturday, October 31, 2015

Champions of Ideology

Last week I visited the Yoko Gushiken museum in Ishigaki
island. It was an interesting moment because of the way it connected to the
many discussions of the week relating to decolonization, nationalism and
activism. Gushiken is a celebrity in Japan and in the international world of
boxing. He was the WBA Flyweight Champion for five years, with a record of 23-1,
15 wins by KO. Although he came from the small island of Ishigaki he fought in
rings around the world. In a two-story house on the edge of the tourist area of
Ishigaki City, you will find his museum. It has his trophies, images of him and
a mock practice ring with highlights from his matches playing on a TV nearby. Throughout
the museum was images of eagles, as the eagle is an important animal to
Ishigaki Island and it was his symbol that he put on his uniform and on his
promotional materials. You might wonder what a boxer like Gushiken might have
to do with the conference I was attending, where Okinawan Independence was the
main subject. People often imagine sports to be where real things go to die, as
a mere distraction, something which confuses people, allows them to channel
their energy into something trivial and pointless as opposed to challenging the
oppressive social orders of the day. While this is true, there is nonetheless
something to be said of larger than life figures such as Gushiken, and since he
is considered to be an Okinawan folk hero, it was very relevant.

In discussions of independence or decolonization the issue
naturally came up of how to get people engaged, how to open their eyes, how to
help them see things differently so they don’t resist and don’t become so
fearful when the idea is mentioned. Several activists discussed how when they
interact with people, when the topic is broached people become so resistant, they
are suddenly so dismissive of anything and everything you say. Someone who you
have known your whole life and who have trusted you on so many other matters,
will suddenly become defensive and suspicious, calling into question your
motives, your intelligence. Why is it that if the idea is raised, all of a
sudden you lose your friends.

Tåya’ ga’chong-ña i ume’essalao. They say tåya’ guma’ para i
ablådot, but often times it feels as if tåya’ guma’ para i activist. A person
who takes on a critical position in life often times feels without friends,
without allies, as if the burden of truth in your society has fallen on your
shoulders alone. What can fuel even more frustration is the way in which people
don’t heed you, listen to you, take what you say seriously, but will believe
what their priest says, what some Governor says, some idiot on television.
People won’t believe what you say, but it seems like a host of other, less
serious, less intelligent souls might somehow have more effectiveness in their
speech. They may have some credibility which you lack or can’t seem to gain.

At dinner one night I asked everyone what the difference is
between Yoko Gushiken and a decolonization activist. Why is it that if one
person says something while standing in front of Camp Schwab or Takae or
Futenma it would be treated differently by Okinawans than if it was said by
someone like like Yoko Gushiken. The most obvious answer is that people would
believe or accept the speech of one over the other because one is more famous. Mås
matungo’ si Fulånu kinu si Fulåna. This is generally how the media works, but
not necessarily how people in general work. If your average activist proclaims
independence for Okinawa versus a celebrity such as Yoko, it is not so much
that one is better known and therefore more trustworthy (although advertising
is based largely on that idea), it is what one represents over the other.

The activist is a subject who is attempting to speak
directly to an issue. The speech is complicated as is all speech, but it is
interpreted as being blunt, as speaking directly to the issue. It may not at
all actually. That is what is always hysterical about the decontextualized way
in which activist discourse is decoded, is that it often accepts the fact that
it is spoken directly or bluntly or forcefully or yelled loudly as being the
key for its translation. An activist as a result is often seen as being too
close to truth, too close to the issue for people to accept. There is too much
of the other involved in accepting what they say, not enough of the self. It
feels like truth is arriving at your doorstop by virtue of someone else being
smarter, knowing more, being more serious about the world, just in so many ways
being better. The self contracts and rejects it primarily because of the notion
that this truth isn’t what you have arrived at, this truth comes via someone
else’s intelligence or their benevolence. This is why psychological strategies
which reverse the form or attempt to manipulate people by seeing their desire
reflected and reversed can be so successful. People don’t want to feel like
someone knows more then them, even if that is clearly true. They resist out of
a stubborn selfishness, they try to take what you offer and reject it or
distort it, morph it into something that they can take credit for, feel as if
it really was theirs all along.

But returning to the boxer Yoko Gushiken, the difference is
the symbolism involved. Very few people are famous just because they are
famous, although many historical figures or important concepts illustrate that
simple truth. Everyone knows this because everyone knows this. People may not
know much about it, but it is known that everyone knows it. If Yoko Gushiken
speaks on independence or decolonization for Okinawa, his speech may be taken
more seriously because he is not interpreted as an activist. He is someone
outside of that. He is not normal or average though, his power comes from his
social meaning and what has been historically poured into that in order to
sustain his public identity.

At the museum in Ishigaki there was a man from Naha who has
long been a fan of Yoko Gushiken. He remarked on how back in the day when Yoko
would fight everything in Naha would stop. People would take off work,
businesses would close, buses wouldn’t run. Because of the pride that he
represented in coming from a small island in the Ryukyu peninsula people saw so
much more in him than just being good at hitting another person. The social
ties to a figure like Gushiken is filled with those sorts of memories and
moments. Time shared with friends while watching. Recounting stories of fights
with your family. Feeling a growing and sweeping pride for your island(s) when
he is mentioned. He symbolizes so much more to people than your average
activist, and so much of who he has become is tied to empowering ideas which
might make people listen or consider what he says more. An activist appears to
be simple and direct, but when someone else, for whom so much cultural energy
is invested speaks up it can reach a far greater audience.

The ultimate point of this conversation was the issue of
culture in political movements. Culture is not just practices and traditions of
which you would present to a waiting anthropologist. It is not just dance or
religion, but can refer to the day to day forms of life that keep us busy, keep
us entertained and give us a quotidian sense of meaning. Speech which is
explicitly political will always fall short, your attempts to reach people have
to have a cultural dimension as well, something which will make it relevant to
the majority of moments of peoples lives.

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Put Guahu / About Me

This blog is dedicated to Chamorro issues, the use and revitalization of the Chamoru language and the decolonization of Guam. This blog also aims to inform people around the world about the history, culture and language and struggles of the Chamorro people, who are the indigenous islanders of Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Luta and Pagan in the Mariana Islands. Pues Haggannaihon ha', ya taitai na'ya, ya Si Yu'us Ma'ase para i finatto-mu.

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The Revolution Will Not Be Haolified

THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE HAOLIFIEDTinige’ as Guahu - 2003 (updated 2008)

You will not be able to ignore it che’lu * This time you will not be able to blame it all on Anghet * You will not be able to change channels * And watch Fear Factor, Rev TV of Salamat Po Guam because * The Revolution will not be televised

The revolution will not be televised, nor will it be advertised * It will not be sponsored by the Good Guys at Moylan’s or the better guys at AK. * It will not be something easily explained by radio callers * Whether they be Positively Local, Definitively Settler, or Surprisingly Coconut * It will not be cornered by the Calvos and explained by Sabrina Salas * Matanane * After the story about the incoming B-52’s or 1000’s of Marines careening towards to Guam, and how we * should be economically energized and not terrorized. * Jon Anderson will have no TT anecdotes about it * and Chris Barnett won’t malafunkshun it because the revolution will not be televised

The revolution will not be televised or editorialized * It will not be something canabilized with two inches here two inches there * Dubious headlines everywhere * Lee Weber will not edit it * Joe Murphy will not put it in his pipe and smoke it * Nor dream about it, or tell others the wonders and blunders of it. * There will be no letters to the editor quoting scriptures or denying its constitutionality * And there will be no American flag inserts saying these three colors just don’t run * As the revolution will not be editorialized

The revolution will not be televised or politicized * It will not play the same old gayu games * And promise you that same old talonan things. * The revolution will not wave at you as you drive by on Marine Drive * And seduce you with its hardworking eyes. * It will not be territorial or popular, and not encourage you with maolek blue. * The revolution will not put marang salaman po after its speeches to get more Filipino votes in the next election because the revolution will not be politicized

The revolution will not be televised, not be theorized * It will not be something GCC or UOG friendly. * There will be no books at Bestseller offering to help you lose something in 90 days * Or Rachel Ray helping you cook the revolution of your way. * Ron McNinch will not survey it * and will not poll people about their revolution of choice. * There will be no WASC review report demanding accountability demanding autonomy * And no beachcombing carpetbaggers will proclaim their own terminal authority * Over the histories, the laws, the thinking of those for whom they see nothing but corrupt and corrupting inferiority * The revolution will not be colonized

The revolution will not be televised, not be supersized. * The revolution will not be something you can buy at Ross, or get at blue light cost * It is not just red rice, kelaguan uhang, or popcorn with Tobacco sauce. * It doesn’t come with Coke and it doesn’t fit on a fiesta plate. * The revolution will not make you gof sinexy, cure your jafjaf, or make fragrant your fa’fa’ * The revolution will not force you to be where America’s empire begins * Or where Japan’s golf courses and Gerry Yingling’s credit card debt ends. * You won’t need a credit card, or be charged for the tin foil to cover your balutan * As the revolution will not be economized

The revolution will not be televised, blownback or militarized * There will be no more physical ordnance buried in people’s lands * And no more patrionizing propaganda buried in people’s minds * The revolution will not get you cheaper cases of chicken or increased commissary privileges. * It will not make freedomless flags feel more comfortable in your hands * Or make uniforms fit more snugly around your mind. * The revolution will not deny racism or exploitation * And not create histories about landfalls of destiny * But instead publicize the racism and evils of American hegemony. * The revolution will not be subsidized by construction contracts or the race of Senator Inouye or Congressman Burton * It will not be laid waste to by daisy cut budgets or Medicare spending limits * Instead it will be sustained by deep memories that refuse to die * The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised and will not polarize based on blood or color * It will not make your skin lighter * It will not make your skin darker * It will not test your blood the way Hitler or Uncle Sam would of done * It will not hate some and love others based on their time of naturalization * Or incept date of their compacts of free association. * But the revolution will help some find comfort, find strength, find power * In their connections to the land and to each other * Allow some to discover the sovereignty that can be found in solidarity * The revolution will take and remake this consciousness that doesn’t need to be televised * But does need to be revolutionized * The revolution will not be haolified * The revolution will not be haolified